Effect of steam curing scheme on the early-age temperature field of a prefabricated concrete T-beam

Steam curing can accelerate the hydration reaction rate of concrete, enhancing the production efficiency of prefabricated T-beams. Excessive temperature differences during steam curing could lead to early cracking of concrete and affect the durability of structures. This paper conducted experiments and numerical simulations to study the variation law of the early-age temperature field of T-beams concrete, and the aim was to seek effective steam curing schemes. The time-history law of early-age temperature variation of T-beam under the coupling effect of hydration heat and ambient temperature was measured. The early-age temperature field of T-beam during steam curing was simulated by ABAQUS and UMATHT subroutine. The effect of steam curing parametric on the early-age temperature field was discussed by five steam curing schemes. The conclusions indicated that under the effect of steam curing, the temperature difference between the interior and the surface of T-beam concrete decreased. The early temperature variation of T-beam was mostly influenced by the thermostatic temperature and thermostatic time. When the thermostatic time is set to 5 hours and the thermostatic temperature exceeds 60 °C, there will be a temperature difference of over 25 °C between the surface of the T-beam and the ambient environment, which can cause cracking of the concrete surface. When the thermostatic temperature is set to 50 °C, it is recommended that the thermostatic time should not exceed 10 hours.